Councillors should throw out plan to oust charities

The News

STEVE CANAVAN: It was a lot of rattle over just a little roll

Goodness knows, charities are having a hard enough time of it of late. They have had their work cut out to fend off the effects of a recession that has dragged on seemingly without end.

Of course, the downturn has been felt by organisations across the country, with businesses having to get through a difficult time that has seen many go to the wall.

But perhaps charities are even more vulnerable when people start to feel the pinch.

And for that reason, it is easy to feel that Fareham Borough Council is being unfair in considering costing them some more revenue.

We would say straight away that of course the economic climate has also hit local authorities hard.

They are having to scrimp and save every penny they can, although some would say that is as much because of a lack of care by central government – past and present – in managing the country’s monetary affairs over the past decade or so.

But surely it cannot be right that the council in Fareham is seeking to effectively turf well-respected charities out and set itself up instead as a recipient for more recyclable materials to be sold for the public purse.

The sums of money involved are not inconsiderable, but in the greater scheme of things, does the council really want to generate a good deal of badwill for the sake of a few thousand pounds?

And wouldn’t many people anyway prefer to give unwanted clothes and the like to charity rather than donate them to help swell the civic coffers?

We urge Fareham councillors to reject this proposal when they meet tonight. It might be well meant, but it is surely ill-founded.

And it would hit hard charities such as that which provides the air ambulance service that each day can be the difference between life and death for accident victims across the area.

How many of those have been airlifted to safety from the streets of Fareham?

How could councillors take money from an organisation which so protects the borough’s residents?